2017 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon Doubles Entries Of Women Artists

Editors at work at the 2016 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon at the Museum of Modern Art. Courtesy of Marily Konstantinopoulou via Wikimedia Commons.

The fourth annual 2017 Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon happened in over 200 events held around the world in March 2017. Over 2,500 global participants edited the inclusion of over 6,500 women artists with new or expanded Wiki entries. Created after a 2011 survey confirmed that less than 10 percent of Wikipedia contributors were women, the 2017 events nearly doubled the impact of the 2016 campaign. 

“We were heartened by the response to our call to arms to fight against disinformation and fake news with facts,” Art+Feminism organizers Siân Evans, Jacqueline Mabey, McKensie Mack, and Michael Mandiberg told ArtNet News. “We continue to be inspired by all the dedicated folks who make room in their busy schedules to share skills and improve a collectively held resource like Wikipedia.”

Among the new entries in Wikipedia are Hannah Black, who called for Dana Schutz's 'Open Casket', the Emmett Till painting at the center of the 2017 Whitney Biennial controversy, to be destroyed.